Stay
by MaddsLovesTwilight
Summary: Please Bella, you can't go!" I looked down into his emerald eyes now filled with anguish as he took my hands in his and begged. "Why?" Why was it so different here? Why had I planted so many roots here? He voiced the answer in three words. "I love you."
1. Running Away

**This story is based off of the movie The Perfect Man. I'm not a very big Hilary Duff fan, but the movie was begging to be transformed Twilight style. **

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**Florida**

"Nope. No way. Not gonna happen. I refuse," I practically shouted at my friend, Pam, who was now holding one of my mother's dresses in front of me.

"Come on, Bella! A person only gets to go to prom once!" She begged me halfheartedly, already knowing that I would stay firm in my decision, and that no human could get me to go to something as stupid as _prom. _

"Pam, nobody is asking me anyways! If I went I would be endangering myself and everybody in the school by trying to walk in heels. It's a waste of time and money, so I'm not going." I saw the sad, disappointed look on the closest person I had to a friend's face and added in a softer tone, "Prom's not really my thing, either."

She nodded sadly and hung the dress back up in my mom's small closet. "But you'll have fun with Greg, right?" I watched as her face lit up again.

"Yeah, I'm so glad that he asked me. He's really so nice…." she trailed off looking confused.

We both heard it at the same time.

Though the sound might not have been as significant to Pam, she still knew something was up. I understood immediately and sighed unhappily. "See? If I actually had made plans for prom and had bought a dress, it would have all gone to waste."

"What do you mean?" she asked, immensely confused now. I let out another sad sigh before standing up from my seat on the edge of my mom's bed, swinging my arms back and forth uselessly saying vaguely,

"Patsy's back…."

"Huh?" she called after me, following out the door. I knew it was probably rude to make her leave without a very good explanation, but I'd been through this so many times, been through so many towns and so many states, that I knew it wouldn't matter in the long run. She would move on. She had better, closer friends.

"Put me on your buddy list, okay?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood now that she understood what was happening. She paused in the doorway, turning halfway to meet my apologetic gaze.

"Sure thing, Bells," was the last thing she said to me before she headed down the driveway to her car and drove off. I would never talk to her again. We both knew the truth; there was no buddy list.

I walked back in the small house, shutting the door without a word behind me. All I could hear above I Fall to Pieces by Patsy Cline echoing quietly around the house was maybe the sound of my mother packing things away in the kitchen. I walked in quietly, leaning on the door frame before asking half interested, "So where are we going this time?". She didn't look up to answer me, not noticing the pained look on my face of having to move again.

"Forks, Washington. There's a job opening at a small bookstore with my old friend, Rose. Do you remember her?" she did wait for me to answer. "I think you'll like the place where I'm working. Lots of books. Even computers to do some research on if you want to do your schoolwork…."

I nodded absentmindedly and tried to clear my throat where a huge lump had suddenly formed. My mother looked up for the first time, but didn't see. She was blind, in a sense, to everything around her.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. You and Anna will make new friends. You always do." I tried to hide my grimace. How my mother thought it was so easy for me to make friends was beyond me.

I headed to the room that Anna and I shared to see that she had already started packing. She was terribly bright for her age; she was always spelling everything.

"Is it cold in Washington?" she asked suddenly. I tried to smile at her.

"Who knows," was all I said. Anna and I shared a suitcase for clothes and we each had one backpack for personal belonging. This was how it always went. We were done packing within an hour. A few days later we were getting in the car, me in the passenger seat, my mom driving, and Anna in the back, coloring quietly. I didn't bother to look back at our old house.

"Ready for our next big adventure?" my mom my mom asked, starting the car.

"A-D-V-E-N-T-U-R-E," Anna spelled proudly.

Adventure. Mom's name for running away.

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**R&R Please.**


	2. Numbered

I stepped onto the huge yellow bus for my first day at Forks High. Not that it really mattered; my days in Forks were numbered. I swallowed hard as I looked the bus that resembled the inside of a tin can. This was always the hard part. Finding a seat without looking like a loser.

I was walking down the aisle quietly when an incredibly gorgeous blond girl looked at me up and down, stopping at my boots. She quickly turned to the girl next to her, a short, beautiful girl with spiky black hair and whispered something excitedly into her ear. Ugh, just what I need, I thought, rumors about the new girl.

To my surprise, the tiny girl that looked like a fairy looked back at me and smiled. I smiled timidly back, but kept walking. There was an empty seat way in the back that I could snag…. "Hey, wait!" she called out to me in a soprano voice. I stopped and turned back around.

"Yeah?" I asked, not feeling terribly social a the moment.

"Your boots. How much did you pay for them?" the blond asked. I blinked in surprise.

"I paid fifty dollars for mine," the small girl declared proudly.

"Uh, free. I pulled them from a garbage can somewhere in New York," I told them, aware of the bus driver impatiently waiting for me to find a seat.

The blond grinned at me and the fairy pouted slightly but said jokingly, "You win."

"Hey! Girl! Pick a seat or get off!" the bus driver yelled at me. I blushed and took the closest seat, behind the blond girl and the jet haired girl. I pressed my lips and hid my face behind my hair in embarrassment. The girls in front of me tried to hide their giggles at my mortification with no avail. Just what I needed.

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On the way to school I found that the beautiful blonde was named Rosalie- she was in my second period class- and the equally pretty fairy girl was Alice- who was in my fourth period class with Rosalie also. I also found that they both loved to shop. So when I mentioned getting my boots from New York, Alice pounced.

"Oh! Is it wonderful there? I hear that you can find the best makeup-" but I cut her off there, not wanting to get her hopes up.

"Actually I was only there for four months, and my mom was in and out of work, so I didn't get to do a lot of shopping…." I trailed off.

Alice and Rosalie looked like they could cry for me. "But I don't like shopping anyways, so I didn't really mind." They nodded understandingly, but I didn't miss the look of pure horror that they both exchanged.

I walked off of the bus and started to walk away, but then froze in dismay. I had no idea where anything was. I turned to Alice, to find her smiling warmly at me.

"Need help?" she asked, knowing I would say yes. I nodded sheepishly, following them down a hallway. Rosalie noticed a poster that warned students of picture deadlines. "Oooh, you're going to have to take your yearbook pictures with the losers who didn't take them in the fall," she told me sympathetically.

I laughed. "Yeah, I don't do yearbook pictures." They stopped and looked at me.

"Uh, everybody has to take pictures. It's like paying your taxes: mandatory pain," Alice informed me, pointing to the class we had stopped at. My first period.

"Yeah, they'll hold you down and make you say 'cheese'," Rose added. I shrugged and waved goodbye to them as I said,

"Not if I'm not here, they won't."

In fourth period, I found a seat by Rosalie and Alice, to find the teacher was a complete dud. "Um… yes, talk amongst yourself until the bell rings," the woman trilled nervously, fluttering around the room uselessly. My new friends automatically turned to me, deciding to play a 'game'.

Quiz Bella till she pukes. Fun.

Rose asked me, "So, why did you move to Forks. I swear, it's the most boring place to live."

I sighed and said, "My mom can't live without being with a scumbag. So she picks the first guy that she sees, and sadly, the first guy is the worst person that a girl can pick. Whenever the guy jerk breaks her heart, she runs away, and takes us with her."

"Who's us?" Alice asked curiously.

"My little sister."

"Oh. That must be hard, having to move around everywhere. To make new friends every time you move," Rose sympathized. I nodded awkwardly.

"I wish that she would pick somebody right for her. Or maybe just stay single for a while. To see that she doesn't need a man in her life…. But it's hopeless. She's totally blind when it comes to men," I pushed away my fantasies of staying in one place for good uneasily. No use in wishing for something that would never come.

The bell rang, dismissing us to lunch. Our spastic teacher jumped, dropping a bundel of papers, throwing them everywhere. We all went to help her pick them up, and by the time we finished, everyone else was gone in the hallways. We walked together to the lunch room, taking our time, Rosalie and Alice talking to me about boyfriends, making me blush and shake my head furiously. They laughed loudly, the sound bouncing off the walls. We eventually took our place in the oversized line. "Hey, Edward," Alice said casually. This confused me, making me look around to see who she was talking to.

Then, the boy I didn't take a notice to before in front of us turned around, and my heart stopped. He was the most beautiful person I had ever seen. His perfectly tousled hair was a shiny copper color, his skin was perfect and paler than mine, but his eyes were his best feature. They were huge, brilliant emeralds that held some sort of knowledge far past his own years.

When he saw who had acknowledged him, his face lit up, making his face even more perfect than before. "Hello Alice, Rosalie," he said civilly, which surprised me. Most guys I was used to were terribly rude to women when they greeted them. Something that shocked me even more was the smoothness of his voice. It was like velvet.

Then he turned to me.

I thought he would completely ignore me; I was the new girl, the freak. But instead he turned, focusing all of his attention on me. "And who is your attractive new friend here?" he asked, holding my gaze, making me blush furiously.

"This is Bella Swan. Today is her first day her at Forks High," Alice piped happily.

Then, I almost fainted; he took my hand in his soft, warm one and kissed it. My face turned a deep scarlet. "Well, it is a pleasure to have you here at Forks High School, Bella. I am Edward Masen," he told me, grinning wider, making his smile crooked, yet even more perfect.

"Thank you," I whispered, looking down at the tiled floor embarrassed and fully aware that he hadn't let go of my hand. Rose cleared her throat, and we pulled our hands away quickly, looking away.

"Um, sorry to break this up, but the line has moved," Alice giggled, brilliant turquoise eyes sparkling. I looked up to wait for Edward to step ahead, but he swept his arm in front of him, motioning for me to go forward.

"Ladies first," he said politely, smiling at me. I blushed for what seemed the millionth time that day and walked on, trying not to trip on my way. In the line, Edward talked to Rosalie about her car, while Alice explained to me,

"Rose is a car freak. Better at fixing cars than any boy here at Forks High. Don't tell her I told you, or she'll have my head!" she laughed lightly, but I could see that she wasn't joking about Rosalie killing her for telling me this about her. I nodded, grinning.

Then, a mischievous look twinkled in her eye. Oh no. "So, I noticed a certain somebody taking an interest in Mr. Masen over there…" she whispered, trailing off suggestively.

"Who, Rosalie?" I asked, trying my hardest not to blush at her newest discovery.

"No, you!" she squeaked happily.

"Alice, you're being absurd," I scolded her for her foolish conclusions, glaring at her.

"I don't think so. And trust me, I know these things," she said, waggling her eyebrows. I rolled my eyes. Edward would never feel that way about me. I shouldn't feel this way about anyone this soon. It wasn't like me to become infatuated with anybody, or nonetheless become attached. As I said before, my days at Forks were numbered….

After I paid for my food, I became uneasy. I had only known Alice and Rosalie for half a day. They didn't want me to sit with them, did they? My thoughts were interrupted by Rosalie hip- checked me, her hands full from holding her trey. "Coming, or what?" she asked teasingly. I smiled and nodded. Stupid Bella.

I walked after Rosalie to the table that she was headed to, and unexpectedly slipped on spilled milk. How cliché. As I prepared for the moment that would ruin my life at Forks, embarrassing me in front of everybody making my new friends hate me, I was caught by a strong arm wrapping around my waist and pulling me back up, face to face with Edward Masen.

I was having a Spider Man moment.

"Thanks," I stuttered shakily.

"No problem," he told me, winking. I blushed tomato red as he released me and led me towards the table that Alice and Rosalie were sitting at. I averted their amused gases as I sat down. I stiffened when Edward sat down in the seat right next to mine.

"Edward, aren't you sitting with Emmet and Jasper?" Alice asked politely, like she already knew what he was going to say.

"I will be occupying Ms. Swan's time today, to delay any of her future visits with the floor today," he told her, but turned to face me, grinning. I glared, but it was a pathetic attempt. I couldn't stay mad at him. Stop it, Bella! He's just being polite! I screamed at myself internally.

"Emmett McCarty and Jasper Whitlock are our boyfriends," Rosalie informed me, obviously trying to help me from my embarrassment by starting new conversation. I shot her a thankful look. Two boys at the table in front of us waved at me, probably hearing our conversation.

"Jasper is my boyfriend. He's the blond," Alice told me happily. The blond boy was tall, even from a sitting position with hazel eyes and slightly muscular. Emmett, the other boy, I concluded, was burly, muscular, had curly hair, and brown eyes. He was taller than Jasper, but both were very handsome.

"And Emmett's mine, so hands off," Rose joked, grinning at me. I laughed with Alice at that. I noticed that Edward wasn't laughing. I turned to see him watching my face carefully, as if he were watching for something. My thoughts were cut short when Alice spoke.

"So, I've been thinking, and I have a pretty good idea!" she crowed happily. Everybody exchanged confused looks.

"For what?" Rosalie asked.

"Bella's moving problem, of course," Alice said, as if it were obvious and that everybody could just magically read her mind. **(A/N: ….) **I rolled my eyes while Rosalie nodded in understanding now.

"Wait, what moving problem?" Edward asked, clearly confused.

"Shuddup, Edward, I'll tell you later," Alice snapped playfully. I pressed my lips as I fought the laugh that threatened to escape my lips at his expression. He crossed his arms, but remained silent. Alice looked over her shoulder left and right. I raised my eyebrows.

"Nobody can know about this! It is top secret!" Alice hissed, her eyes darting around the cafeteria suspiciously. I snorted. Alice looked up at me.

"What did you say, Bella?" she asked in an innocent voice, daring me to answer. I shook my head mockingly.

"Nothing at all Alice…" Edward's lips twitched, but he dared not laugh. Rosalie looked like she would burst, but managed to hold it in. Alice's eyes narrowed, but she continued anyways.

"So nobody can tell anybody what I am about to tell you guys now, you got it?" she asked.

"Sure."

"No problem."

"My lips are sealed."

Alice leaned in across the table secretively. Everybody leaned towards her in response. It was dead silent at our table.

Nobody blinked.

Nobody breathed.

**BANG!**

Rose screamed.

Alice slammed her hand hard against the wood table as hard as she could. Everybody jumped 6 feet in the air. "ALICE!" everybody screamed at her in unison, ignoring the stares that we had now earned from the cafeteria population.

She cackled evilly. "I'm sorry! I couldn't resist! You should have seen your faces!" she chocked between laughter that sounded like bells. I breathed deeply, trying to slow my racing heart.

"Okay, okay! I promise, I won't do it again!" she breathed, trying to get rid of a stitch in her side.

"So, what is this magnificent plan of yours, Alice?" Edward asked, clearly peeved. Rose cleared her throat, embarrassed from her shriek that she had let out earlier. I just glared at my newest friend.

"Oh, no, no, no. I'm not telling you guys my plan just yet. I'm having too much fun," she said, grinning. I groaned.

"Don't worry. She probably doesn't even have a 'plan'," Edward whispered in my ear, making me jump again. I hadn't notice him tilt closer to me. He chuckled, leaning away.

"Oh, but I do, Edward, but I do. It is a wonderful plan. A plan that you do not want to miss. So if I were you, I would come to my Uncle's restaurant after school today to hear it," she informed us, smirking. I raised my eyebrows. Should I go along with it? It was sort of useless, to try to solve my "moving problem". Alice would only end up getting hurt when this plan didn't work. Of course, I had a feeling that nobody should bet against Alice. Maybe this would work. Maybe. But I still had my doubts.

"And if I don't?" I asked, immediately regretting my defiance. Alice's eyes narrowed and her face darkened as she leaned over the table again dangerously. Edward shifted slightly, as if he was going to jump in-between this scary Alice and me. How odd.

She whispered her reply. "There will be very drastic consequences." She leaned back, and her face came back to normal, and she piped up cheerfully, as if she hadn't just pretended to punish me for not hearing this fantastic plan of hers, "So is everybody's coming?" I gulped and nodded.

Apparently, I was going to hear my new friend's extraordinary plan. Whether I liked it or not.

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**R&R Please.**


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